Specter
by PrescitedEntity
Summary: Set after the "Maria" ending. It wasn't long before she, too, fell ill, and James journeys, again, to Silent Hill.


Over a year had passed since James had last been to Silent Hill, an experience that had been traumatizing enough to give him nightmares and had made him adamant about never returning. The one joyous, redeeming thing that had emerged from that visit to the town was that he'd met his current wife there. Maria Sunderland.

He'd taken her to Brahms; he refused to live where the memories of his late wife lingered, and she refused to leave the nearby vicinity of Silent Hill. Their first major argument erupted over the issue of where they'd settle down – James was surprised at the fervency with which Maria insisted they stay. The couple settled on Brahms as a compromise, and were wed quietly in a backyard ceremony, with only a pastor present. Even so, the event was idyllic, save for a few shadowed glances, a few pained looks of remembrance, of guilt.

It wasn't long after their marriage that she fell ill.

James hoped and prayed that it wouldn't be the same – events couldn't repeat, could they? – but they did, and mere months later, Maria was confined to the hospital. With every visit came the pain of the past, compounded with the pain of the present.

A few weeks later, James found himself in Silent Hill at the summons of a letter.

_James._

_I don't have long. We didn't have long. I guess though I'd hoped so hard otherwise, I always knew it was never meant to last._

_I never had a choice. It was be with you or nothing. Nothing else mattered, because there'd be nothing else._

_And then the illness came, just like before. But at least, this time, things were different._

_Thank you, James.__For the short time we were together, you made me happy._

_I'm waiting for you now. In that town, Silent Hill. I know you hate it, but it's special to me, and to you._

_You know where to find me. At our special place._

_It's where I am at rest, and..._

_It's the only place you'll find rest._

– _Maria_

Upon receiving the letter, he went to the town seeking answers – but not from Maria.

The fog permeated the long corridor of the Lakeview Hotel, hanging unnaturally in the air like decaying drapes. Opening the door, he peered in, and his eyes fell on the person he sought, her complexion sallow, her hair unkempt, her face so like Maria's, only without the makeup that the latter kept in vanity even as her health failed. When the woman spoke, he could barely hear it above the silence of the room.

"James. You're back."

"Mary, why? Why did you curse Maria like that? Why won't you let me move on? Or is it that I..." His voice started as a mumble, rising to a sharp accusation before trailing off into worried thoughtfulness. Mary smiled bitterly, wistfully.

"You still refuse to see what should be so obvious. Are you truly that selfish, James?" She paused and stared expectantly, waiting for a response; when there came none, she turned to the windows, swinging her legs across the bed.

"Over a year ago, you called yourself here in your despair, deeply depressed and without meaning in your life, not acknowledging that I died by your hands. But you were depressed, and you seemed to miss me – to _love_ me so much," she murmured distantly before pausing again, meeting a gaze quickly averted. Before James could say anything, she continued, voice wavering a moment before regaining a cool composure, "I loved you still, James. I hated seeing you suffer like that. I forgave you for my death, and I wanted you to know it, hoping it bring you some peace of mind. So I waited for you here, in foggy Silent Hill, instead of moving on."

"Mary..." James moved towards her, reaching out a hand to grasp her shoulder, fully expecting her to slap it away. To his surprise, she laid her hand on top of his, the cool touch of the dead sending a chill through his body.

"When you came upon Maria, I was hurt. And every time you watched out for her, I felt betrayed, but I knew then it was an illogical feeling. You were a kind man, and of course you would look out for a woman lost in such a horrible place, just like you did Laura. I had faith that you'd realize the truth. And you did. You remembered what you had done."

"Mary, what are you – "

"I finally confronted you that day, right in this very spot," she went on, cutting off his question, "I wanted to prove myself wrong – that you still didn't understand about Maria, that you loved me for something beyond the superficial that she copied. You crushed my hopes and broke my heart with one phrase, James. 'Even an illusion of you.' You knew what she was, and you still wanted her!" Mary's voice descended into a low, harsh, dry sobbing whisper, and she closed her hand around James' like a vice.

"I-...it's not that! I..."

After a pregnant stillness, Mary relaxed her grip, murmuring, "At that moment, I hated you more than I thought I could hate anyone, and the powers here made me monstrous for it. Could you imagine? After you 'killed' me again, I watched powerless as you took her away from here. The illusion of all you loved about me – leaving the thing that matters most, my _soul_ behind." She turned to face him, a rueful smile at her lips and a blank stare in her eyes. "I can't leave this place any more, James. Back, before all of this, before _her_, I could. I'd forgiven you for what you did, and I'd just finally come to terms with my own guilt at my condition doing what it did to us – my own undead path through Brookhaven parallel to yours. But now I'm trapped here, and all because I can't forgive you. Not for this."

"Oh, god, Mary, I'm so... I'm sorry!" James blurted, wrapping his arms around Mary in an unreturned embrace.

"I am, too," Mary whispered, "Because though we're both trapped in Silent Hill, this will be the last time we see each other, James."

"What do you mean?" James asked, bewildered, tear-glossed eyes staring at the specter of his beloved.

"I still love you, James. I didn't want for you to do what you did. And now..." As her words drifted to his ears, they faded to black along with the rest of the building as James lost consciousness.

* * *

"You didn't come for me." The voice, so familiar, so similar, greeted James as he woke.

"Maria?" he groaned, prying his prone form up on the dock of Toluca Lake, its still waters reflecting nothing as he peered down into it.

"Why is that, James? You chose me, but you gave your life to come for _her_," Maria spat, dragging him up by the wrist with a cold and strong grasp.

"Y...you're not real. You never were," he replied, trying unsuccessfully to wrench his hand from hers.

"I'm as real as you are now, James." Her body pressed against him, frigid; her arms clasped him to her as her hands traced fiery paths down his shirt. "You can't back down now. You made your choice." Her voice was a possessive hiss, so like Mary's in pitch, so different in tone. As rust crept up the railing and the boards rotted before his eyes, Maria's cold breath murmured in his ear, chilling his soul.

"You said I'm who you wanted. And now we'll be together forever."

* * *

A/N: I think I may end up writing an epilogue piece for every SH2 ending, LOL. This one was just a little idea that grew into a bit of writing practice. I started it weeks ago, so the second half is a bit rushed because I couldn't completely remember where I wanted to go with it.


End file.
